I Know I'm a Girl, But Still
by KittyoftheNight
Summary: Hi, my name is Lila Kunumo. I'm also the first girl, to ever join the Seigaku's Regulars. How did that happen? Well, you'll have to ask Tomoka, Kaidoh, and Tezuka. I'm sure that they can fill you in if you ask. Me, I have a game to play!
1. Chapter 1

**I Know I'm a Girl, But Still!**

Once again, it was just another normal day for me. Granted, it was also a very annoying day, but still. Then again, what day wasn't annoying with my idiotic brother? At the moment, I was out running like I usually do. I normally run 3 times a day, sometimes 4 depending on my mood. Plus, when I go for a run, I really go for a run. The reason why I do it is for the stamina. Stamina is important when you play tennis like I do. Normally, I have to play matches about every other day just about. The matches that I play aren't very easy either, especially, since half the time I'm playing against guys. I don't let that stop me though. Oh yeah, did I mention that I go to Seigaku? Our boys tennis team is one of the best, I just wish the same could be said for the girls tennis team… Our team suck, rather my team sucks. That's why I've never been able to go to real tournaments with my team, I'm the only one that's actually any good. It's really sad when I'm able to admit that. I so wish that I could just play with the guys, maybe then I'd finally get to play in a tournament for one, a REAL tournament instead of these street tennis tournaments I play all the time. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that little tidbit, didn't I? Sorry about that. You see…that's actually the only reason that we even have any money. In fact, that's the argument that I got into with my brother earlier today.

3 hours ago

I was sitting down on the entrance step to our home, tying my shoes up as my brother complained.

"Come on sis, do you seriously have to do this stuff EVERY day?" my brother asked. I sighed in annoyance.

"Katchiro, how many times do we have to go over this, YES! I have to do this to keep my stamina up, or did you forget, I have to have that to win?" I asked, standing up and knocking the tips of my shoes on the ground, getting my feet more comfortable.

"But I'm sure you don't have to this every day" he said, irritating me further.

"Yeah, and you don't have to complain every day when YOU can just as easily go out and get a job Katchiro. You forget, I have 3 other mouths to feed beside myself" I told him.

"How can you even count the cat!?" he exclaimed. I just growled at him.

"And why should I count you?" With that, I walked right out the door, running down the street. I couldn't believe him. Kechi is just as much apart of this family as he is. The good thing about Kechi, he eats less than Katchiro does. Seriously, I'm getting tired of feeding that boy. He eats way too much for my wallet. Plus, he's older than me! Oh well, no use in stressing myself out about it, I have a game to play tomorrow.

Forgetting about Katchiro, I just continued with my normal routine. Every day, I run from my house, around the neighborhood, through the park, passed the school, down to the outlets, and back again. You don't even want to know how far that is. Every time I go running though, I always seem to run into one guys in particular. Kaoru Kaidoh to be exact. He's one of the Seigaku Regulars at my school, although, I'm sure he's never noticed me before though. I kind of have a tendency to watch him play. He's really good I tell you. Everyone is kind of scared of him though. Personally, he doesn't really seem like that bad of a guy to me, then again this is me that we're talking about. Other than the hissing noises that he makes, Kaidoh just seems like a normal guy to me, simple as that. Although, I'd like to play him one of these times though. That would be so awesome to play against Kaidoh and see his snake shot first hand, and no, I do not have a death wish, so don't even ask.

Speak of the devil, or would it be snake?

Kaidoh was headed my way. Today, he was wearing his yellow bandana. Yesterday, he was wearing his green one. Kaidoh always seems more relaxed when running, then again, so do I.

"Hey Kaidoh!" I called as we went passed each other, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him come to a stop and turn around. The only thing that he could see, was my back, and my waving hand. "See ya at school!" I shouted "And great game yesterday!" I laughed quietly to myself. He must think that I'm a weirdo right now. My thoughts were cut short though when a saw a car speeding toward a little boy. "Hey kid, watch out!" I yelled, picking my speed and racing at crosswalk. At this point, Kaidoh had completely turned around, his eyes wide open as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

The only thing I felt, was the car hitting me. It felt like a ton of bricks on my body as I was sent flying over the car and onto the pavement. I had the little boy tucked in my arms protectively.

All around me, I could hear the sounds of yelling and running footsteps, but I couldn't see a thing.

"Call an ambulance!" I could hear people yelling.

"Takota!" a lady yelled.

"Mommy!" came the shout of the little boy in my arms.

I swear, I had never felt so cold in my life.

**I hope everyone liked this chapter. I know it's a little bit on the short side compared to my normal stories, but I did this for a reason. Please don't forget to REVIEW? This is my first attempt at a Prince of Tennis story and I REALLY need feedback. Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I Know I'm a Girl, But Still!**

**Chapter 2**

Great, what did I get myself into now?

When I woke up, I was laying in a hospital bed, machines hooked up to me. My head was killing me and my body ached. Last thing that I remembered, I was jumping into the street after a little boy… The little boy!

I bolted up into a sitting position, before yelling out in pain. Moments later, nurses were running in trying to help me.

"Please, you have to lay down miss" one of them said.

"Lila!" came the voice of my brother as he ran into the room. "Lila!" he shouted, tears in his eyes. He came over to me and hugged me tightly, making me groan in pain.

"Katchiro, I need air" I cried, making him let go of me.

"Sorry" he said nervously.

"The boy…" I started.

"Huh?"

"The little boy…is he okay?" I asked, trying to keep me back straight.

"Oh, you mean the kid that you saved? He's fine. In fact, his mom has been asking about you. She's really grateful that you saved her son"

"I'm glad that he's okay" I said, laying back down and trying to relax. That's when I noticed the small accumulation of balloons and cards in the room. "What's all of this?" I asked. He laughed for a moment.

"What's it look like? People want you to get better, duh. After all, you've been out for a month" he said it as if it were nothing. My eyes went wide though when he finished speaking. I shot up in my bed, ignoring the pain.

"A month!? Oh no, Mom!" I shouted with worry. Katchiro had to keep me held down as I started to go frantic.

"Lila, calm down, she's fine" he tried to assure me.

"But the money and her medicine" I said.

"Don't worry, she's been getting her medicine" he said as he pushed me back down. "You'd be surprised at what the school has been doing for us" he told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Well, a few kids got together after hearing what happened to you, and started raising money. They even got the Seigaku Regulars to play benefit matches to raise money for you. Mom hasn't gone a day without her medicine because of them and I haven't gone a day without food" he said, grinning at the last part. I just growled and smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow, what was that for!?" he shouted.

"For being an idiot, that's what. Knowing you, you've probably been spending most of the money on food, haven't you!?" I yelled at him. He kind of backed away nervously.

"Um…" I looked at him wide eyed.

"Tell me you didn't…Katchiro! I can't believe you!" I yelled, getting out of bed and slugging him in the face. Of course my hand hurt when I was done, but I didn't care. I just grabbed my clothes and pulled the curtain around me, quickly pulling on my clothes. Afterwards, I found my shoes and put them on. I made sure to tear the patches and equipment off of me, before nearly limping out of my room and out of the hospital.

I was so mad right now. I couldn't believe my brother. Those kids put a lot of effort into raising that money and he wasted it on food. That money should have been saved and used to pay for my hospital bills and Mom's medicine. I'd say that that was the first time that I've actually punched my brother too. Man my hand hurt right now. Not to mention, I can barely feel my legs anymore from running. Heck, I didn't even know where I was at the moment. I have to sit down.

"So tired…maybe leaving the hospital wasn't such a good idea" I spoke quietly to myself, placing my head on my knees. "So…tired…" Before I knew it, I was sleep.

T

"Dad, did we really have to bring her here?" came the sound of a young boys voice.

Where am I? It felt like I was laying on a mat of some sort.

"Yes, Ryoma, it was the right thing to do. After all, we couldn't just leave her there now could we?" asked an older man.

I let out a groan to let them know that I was awake. When I opened my eyes, I came face to face with a man. He had shaggy short brown hair and brownish gold eyes. He also wore what looked like an old brown men's yukata (kimono thingy).

"How are you feeling?" he asked, a smile on his face.

"Um…fine?" I said, giving him a strange look. "Where am I and who are you?" I asked, looking around me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name is Nanjirou Echizen, and you're in my home. Oh, and that's my son Ryoma" he said, pointing to the boy near the wall.

"Wait a sec…" my eyes went wide "You mean you're THE Nanjirou Echizen? The famous tennis player?" I asked. He just grinned at me laughing.

"The one and only" he said proudly. Ryoma sighed.

"Great…inflate his ego" Ryoma said, pushing himself off the wall and walking over to his dad. He popped him in the head with a tennis racket.

"Hey, be nice to your father" Nanjirou complained. This made me laugh which caused both of them to look at me.

"Sorry" I said.

"So, if I'm not mistaken, you're Lila Kunumo, right?" Nanjirou asked. My brows furrowed at the question.

"How do you know my name?" I asked. He smiled.

"See Ryoma, I told you it was her" he said to his son, before turning back toward me. "You were all over the news last month. You saved that kid from getting hit in the street, you're a real hero" he said. I blushed at this.

"No I'm not…it was just the right thing to do" I told him.

"Come on now" he said, ruffling my hair. I went red in the face. "It's a lot more than just that" he said. I just looked away. "You could have been killed. You risked your own life to save that kid"

"Yeah…and now I have bills to pay" I muttered under my breath.

"Huh?" I quickly shook my head, before getting up.

"Nothing" I said. Nanjirou stood up as well, seeming to think about something.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to play tennis, would you?" he asked. I turned to him, a questioning look upon my face.

"Yeah…why?" I asked curiously. He grinned at me.

"Would the lovely lady honor me with a game?" he asked. My mouth fell open slightly as I looked at him.

"A-are you serious?" I asked. He nodded.

"We have a tennis court just outside if you're up to it" he said.

"I'd love to…but I don't have a racket" I told him, but that didn't seem to make much of a difference.

"Not to worry my dear, I have plenty"

T

I stood outside with a racket in my hands, the wind blowing through my hair as cherry blossom petals fell from the trees. I was staring down Nanjirou as he stood at the other end of the court, his own racket in his hands. The only thing that was between us was the net.

"You can go first little lady" he said, tossing the tennis ball to me. I caught it in my right hand, my fingers curling around it. He watched as I switched hands, tennis ball in my left hand, racket in my right. Within seconds, I tossed the ball into the air, and sent my racket slamming into the ball at full speed. It went sailing over the net and onto the other side.

"Nice serve" he called from the other end, returning the ball to my side. I shifted my feet as I ran forward, pulling back my racket, and quickly letting it loose on the ball. Nanjirou seemed slightly surprised when I returned it as though not expecting it. He made sure to return it though, and at full force too. I actually had to get out of the way to avoid it. "Sorry about that!" he called with a smile on his face. I just nodded carefully, before grabbing another ball.

"Heads up!" I called, before pulling off a hard serve.

"Got it!" he said as he returned it. I had to run all the way to the left side of the court to get it, nearly missing it as I returned it. "Good, but you need to remember your form!" he called, returning it to the other side and making me sprint to get to it. I was shocked when I returned it and I nearly hit him in the face. He returned it though by placing his racket in front of him, again making me run for the ball. I returned it, but fell in the process. This left me wide open.

"30 - Love" Ryoma called. I sighed.

"Don't give up!" Nanjirou called. I nodded my head as I stood back up. Ryoma tossed me another ball.

Okay, I can do this. I can do this. I just have to concentrate. I closed my eyes as I tossed the ball up, tightening my grip on the racket as I swung. I was met with the sound of the ball bouncing twice, and the sound of a low whistle. When I opened my eyes, I saw his shocked expression.

"Very good!" he praised.

"30 – 15" Ryoma called out.

This whole thing kept going for quite some time. Most of the time it was a series of continuous ralleys back and forth.

"Hey!" I called out as I returned his ball over the net.

"What?" he asked, reaching out and hitting it back. I ran to get the ball, hitting it back over the net.

"Why'd you guys bring me here?" I asked, panting a bit. At this point, my body felt exhausted.

"Well, you see…" he started, hitting the ball back to me "We found you laying on the side of the street asleep yesterday" he told me, pausing to hit the ball back again. "Didn't think it right to leave you there"

"Wait…yesterday?" I asked, stopping, which resulted in me getting hit in the face with the ball. "Ah!" Upon getting hit in the face, I fell to the ground, dropping the racket as I held my face.

"Ah! Sorry!" he shouted, running over to me. "Are you alright? I didn't mean for it to hit you in the face" he told me. I shook my head.

"It's okay, it's my fault for not paying attention. Besides, I've had worse…" I told him, standing back up. I fell back down as soon as I got up though. My strength completely drained.

"I think it's time to call it game" he said, holding out his hand for me. I hesitated for a moment before grabbing it though, unsure of whether or not to trust my legs. And what do you know? I couldn't. I ended up falling again, but this time, Nanjirou caught me. "Easy there. Now, up we go" he said, quickly picking up in his arms bridal style. I let out a startled squeal as he did this, my arms around his neck as I was afraid to fall. I was also blushing in embarrassment.

"Dad, you are unbelievable" Ryoma said as he picked up the rackets and took them inside.

When we got back inside, Nanjirou sat me down on a cot, before he stretched out on the floor yawning.

"You know, you should really stay the night Miss Kunumo" Nanjirou said.

"Lila, please. Normally, I would decline, but given the current circumstances… that actually sounds like a good idea" I said, yawning quietly.

"Okay then Lila. So, am I right in guessing that you play on the tennis team at school?" Nanjirou asked. I nodded my head as I rubbed my leg.

"Yeah, but my team sucks…that's why I can never play in _real_ tournaments. Ryoma and the guys are the only ones that actually get to play…" I told him. "In fact, we shouldn't even have a girl's tennis team, since I'm the only one that actually takes it seriously" When I finished, he seemed to be thinking.

"That's too bad. You have a lot of potential"

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Please remember to REVIEW? I'd love to hear feedback on this new story of mine. I want to know your thoughts on it so far and whether it's any good or not.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I Know I'm a Girl, But Still!**

**Chapter 3**

I woke up the next day dreading the fact that I had to go home. I still didn't want to be anywhere near my brother. Although, unfortunately, things don't always work out the way that you want them to.

"You really don't have to walk me home Mr. Echizen" I told him as we walked down the street.

"Nonsense, I want to see that you get home safely" he said, smiling as usual. "And please, call me Nanjirou? Mr. Echizen makes me sound old" he said, chuckling.

"Well…there's my house" I said, pointing to the house down the street. I started getting nervous as we got closer, not wanting to make a scene in front of Nanjirou.

"Now remember what I said, you can stop by any time if you want to play another game, or talk about tennis" he said.

"Thank you sir" I said as we walked up to the house. I sighed quietly as I stood in front of the door, knowing what was going to happen next. The moment I knocked, the door flew open, revealing non other than Katchiro.

"Lila!" he shouted, hugging me tightly. "I was so worried about you. I was getting ready to report you missing" he said. I just pushed him off of me.

"Katchiro, don't touch me…just leave me alone" I told him. He whined like a baby.

"Don't tell me you're still mad at me? I mean, when you ran out of the hospital, I thought that that was bad enough. You can't be mad at me forever Lila"

"I said leave me alone Katchiro, otherwise you'll be without food for a month instead of just a week…"

"What!?" he cried "Come on Lila, you can't be serious!" he yelled.

"Katchiro…unless you want ANOTHER black eye, I suggest you listen and leave me alone" I told him, not really wanting to hit him again, but still.

"W-what? Come on Lila, please? I mean, what would Mom think?" That was it, that was the last straw.

A small growl came from my throat as I pulled back my fist and slugged him in the face. He let out a yelp as he fell to the ground. Mr. Echizen looked like he was going to intervene until he heard me start yelling.

"Where was the thought of Mom when you were spending that money? Huh!? Were you thinking of Mom when you spent all that money on food for YOU!? Huh, Katchiro!? Apparently, food is more important to you than Mom's medicine! That money should have be saved to pay for Mom's medicine and my freaking hospital bill!" I looked up at Nanjirou and bowed. "I apologize Nanjirou sir, have a good day" I then turned to Katchiro "Stay out of my sight" With that, I slammed the door shut and went to my room to change. I was going to check on my mom, grab my book, my racket, skates, along with my i-pod, and then leave. I wasn't going to stay in this house because I knew that Katchiro was going to come back in and make things even worse.

I sighed when I saw that my mom was asleep. I just grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something on it, closing it up in her hand so that Katchiro couldn't see it if he came in.

I passed Katchiro in the living room, before going up to my room. Once I grabbed all of my stuff, I slipped out my window and outside. It was then that I put my in-line skates on, buckling the straps, before standing back up with my bag over my shoulder.

T

_Dear Mom,_

_Sorry I couldn't be here to greet you when you wake up, but I had to get out of the house, even though I just got back. I'm not very happy with Katchiro at the moment, so I'll probably be out all day. Oh, and if you see Katchiro with another black eye, that was me._

_-Lila-_

T

All I could do was scream in frustration as I slammed the tennis balls against the metal fencing. I've been here for 5 hours now. Tennis ball after tennis ball, one right after the other. They just kept hitting that same spot, wearing away at the silver metal of the fence. The force was also wearing away at the strings of my racket little by little as I tried to belt out my anger. Finally, I just dropped my racket, falling to the ground on my knees. I'd say I probably rubbed my hands a bit raw from playing so much. My arms were completely exhausted at this point. This was so…so wrong!

"Things can't get any worse" I said.

…

Drip drop… drip drop… drip drop drip drop.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I yelled as it started to rain, slowly growing to a heavier rainfall as I sat there. Quickly, I packed up my racket and tennis balls, wanting to keep them dry. I made sure to drop my i-pod in my pocket, before zipping my book up in my tennis bag. The last thing that I needed was for that to get wet and ruined. I nearly fell when I got up though as a result of the rain, catching myself with my hand.

"My life sucks right now" I mumbled to myself as I picked my skates up. I stood there for a moment, just standing in the rain as it slowly started to soak into my hair and clothes. I debated on whether to go home yet or not. I still didn't think that I was ready to face Katchiro just yet. Moments later, my stomach growled, giving me the answer that I needed.

T

Down in the outlets, I came across a small sushi restaurant. I just hoped that it wasn't too expensive. When I walked in, I was greeted by a warm welcome from the owner.

"Welcome young lady. How may I help you today?" he asked kindly, a large smile present on his face.

"Um…just a small order of simple sushi please" I said.

"You sure that's all that you want Miss?" he asked curiously. I nodded my head timidly.

"Yes Sir… Sadly, that's all that I can afford at the moment" I told him, before going and finding a place to sit down at one of the farther tables. I could feel his eyes on me as I sat there, pulling my book out from my tennis bag. I tried to ignore his stare as I opened it up on the table, pulling off the small pen that was clipped to the cover. I looked at the different dates that had been written on the pages, scanning over them carefully. I crossed a few of them out, no longer having use for them. I sighed as I looked at one in particular. It was the day of one of the larger tennis tournaments…one that I had missed as a result of my accident. If I would have played in it and won, I would have gotten a lot of money. It would have allowed me to relax for a while without worrying about anything. I needed to call Kanato and talk to him about things. Hopefully, he hadn't decided to drop me yet. I was interrupted by the sound of my food being placed on the table.

"Here you go Miss" I looked up to see a young boy with short light brown hair and a grin on his face. I then looked down at the food and gave him a strange look.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't order this much" I told him. He just shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, it's on us" he said, before pulling out a nice sized cup of hot tea "And so is this"

"What…" I couldn't really seem to find any words for it. "Thank you" I whispered quietly, head bowed a bit as my bangs covered my eyes. I wasn't used to such kindness.

"Don't mention it" he said happily, before going back to work. He seemed like a nice guy.

The entire time that I was eating, I could feel eyes on me, and it was kind of unnerving to be honest. Though every time that I would look up, their eyes were no longer on me, but I knew that they were still watching me. I had no idea why they were watching me though. I mean, I really don't see what's so interesting about me. Personally, I think that I'm pretty boring to be honest. I mean, I really don't have much of a social life, and whenever I'm not in class or doing homework, I'm either practicing tennis or playing in street tournaments. Oh yeah, and of course my normal runs around town 3 times a day. Other than that, that's pretty much the story of my life.

"How may I help you today young man?" the owner asked as someone stepped into the restaurant. I ignored it until I heard the outburst from the boy that gave me my food.

"Kaidoh! What are you doing here?" he asked, rather loudly might I add. I had to lift my eyes though when I heard Kaidoh's name. So, Seigaku's Vipor is a sushi fan. Doesn't really surprise me though.

Almost as if sensing my stare, he turned his head. Our eyes locked for a few moments, before he turned back and answered the guys question. I then went back to eating and writing in my book. I was making a small list of things that I had to do or check on later. I never noticed that Kaidoh took a seat at the table in front of me. He was looking straight at me as I ate quietly. While looking down at my list, I paused right in the middle of placing food in my mouth. I put it back down on the plate and pulled my tennis racket out for a moment. I stared at it, plucking at a few of the strings, tugging at them slightly.

"Crap…I over did it again" I sighed, placing my head in my hand. As I did this, Kaidoh's food was brought out to him. "This is coming out of Katchiro's hide" I whispered. I sighed again as I stared at my racket. I would have to go and get the strings replaced now after what I did earlier, especially, since I have a game tomorrow. I debated on whether or not to ask Kaidoh if he knew anyone that could restring my racket for me at this time of day. I opened my mouth to ask him, but instead turned toward the owner. "Excuse me Sir? Do you happen to have a phone book that I could use for a moment?" I asked from my seat.

"Of course, but what do you need a phone book for?" he asked curiously.

"Well…I kind of wore out the strings on my tennis racket today, so I need to have it restringed for tomorrow" I told him, catching the look from Kaidoh out of the corner of my eye. The moment I mentioned tennis, I had the other guy in my face in seconds.

"You play tennis!?" he asked, causing me to fall backwards off of my seat. I hit my head on something metal.

"Takashi!" the man scolded him. I could tell that Kaidoh was annoyed at who I now know as Takashi.

"Oops, sorry" he said, apologizing to me as I sat up a bit, my hand still on the back of my head. He seemed to be eyeing my racket a bit. "So is this your racket?" he asked. I looked at him like he was stupid and I think that Kaidoh was doing the same thing, since he let out a low hissing sound.

"Yeah" I said. He grinned at me.

"Can I see it? Please, please, please?" he asked excitedly. I just rose an eyebrow at him.

"Um…sure?"

The moment he picked it up, I jumped back a bit.

"BURNING!" he cried out, scaring the crap out of me in the process. At this point, Kaidoh got annoyed and stood up. He walked behind Takashi and hit him in the back of the head while grabbing my racket from him.

"Idiot" he grunted out, coming to stand in front of me. He held my racket out to me, having a tight grip on the handle as I grabbed hold of the top. I gave him a questioning look when he didn't let go. He gave a slight tug, motioning that he was gonna us it to help me up. So I held onto it as he pulled his arm back, pulling me up off the floor.

"Thank you Kaidoh" I said, bowing my head slightly in respect.

"You're looking for old man Haritatsu" he said.

"Huh?" He just held up my tennis racket, pulling at the strings a bit.

"You need new strings…he'll fix it" he told me, picking at the strings strangely.

"Where can I find him?" I asked, hoping that it wouldn't be too far away.

"He's down at the other end of the outlet"

Great…and it's still raining too. I sighed at how unlucky I'd been today. And what do you know, it got even worse too.

"Hey Pops! Have you seen my sister?"

I nearly dropped my racket after Kaidoh handed it back to me, my eyes wide in disbelief. Kaidoh seemed confused when he saw the look on my face.

At that moment, Katchiro turned around and caught sight of me.

"Lila! There you are, I've been looking all over the place for you. Hey, why do you look like a drowned rat?" he asked curiously. I just glared at him, before quickly putting my racket back in its case along with my book. "What are you doing?" he asked, walking over to me. I swung the case over my shoulder as I grabbed my skates, quickly placing some money on the table next to my HALF uneaten food.

"Get out of my way Katchiro" I growled as I tried to get passed him. He wouldn't let me pass. "Katchiro, move" I said, trying not to yell.

"Lila, as your older brother I order you to be nice" he commanded. Wrong thing to do.

"Katchiro, I told you once not to come near me…I told you twice not to come near me…do I have to bust up my hand and hit you somewhere else again!" I yelled in frustration, making everyone but Kaidoh jump and step back. Takashi actually went and hid behind the counter. "Katchiro, move!" He actually had the guts to say no.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kaidoh moving to the side a bit, giving me just enough room to get passed Katchiro.

"Thank you Kaidoh…" I whispered quietly as I shot passed him. I stopped at the door though when I heard Katchiro.

"FOOD!" he exclaimed. I growled before running out. Kaidoh seemed to catch this.

Warily, Kaidoh turned to the owner, giving a faint bow of the head.

"Thank you for the food sir" he said, before walking out the door. He looked both ways, before his eyes landed on me half a block away in the rain. Quietly, he started to follow, hearing me talk to myself.

"Damn Katchiro…I'm supposed to be relaxing tomorrow, not playing in that damn street tournament. I'm…I never even should have left the hospital in this condition…but…Mom…I have to take care of Mom…" slowly, I started to cry, my tears becoming invisible with the rain.

"You're going the wrong way" I jumped when I heard his voice.

"K-Kaidoh…don't scare me like that" I whispered, holding my hand over my heart. Lord have mercy, I think I'm gonna collapse soon. In fact, I think it was visible that my knee looked like it was going to buckle. I had to keep going though, I couldn't give up. I have a game tomorrow for crying out loud.

"You're going the wrong way" he repeated.

"Oh…um…thanks" I said, looking at him awkwardly for a moment as I turned to walk the other way. I stumbled for a moment, before fixing my footing. I'm so tired… "Um…Kaidoh?"

"Huh?" he waited for me to speak.

"Could you show me the way…please?" I asked. I honestly didn't want to be stuck out in the rain for the rest of the day looking for this place. He just grunted, but started walking. I stood there.

"You coming?" he asked as he looked over his shoulder.

"Y-yeah" I said, quickly catching up to him.

As we walked, the muscles in my right arm tightened, making me clench my hand. Once again, Kaidoh took notice, his eyes traveling to my arm. I just kept clenching and unclenching my hand, trying to work it out if possible. I was pretty good at masking pain at times, and this was just another one of those times. Although, one thing that I couldn't seem to fully mask at the moment was my current fatigue, and the affect of the numbing cold on my body. The rain wasn't helping matters much either. All that the rain accomplished was inevitably soaking me to the bone. It wouldn't surprise me if I ended up being sick tomorrow as a result of being out in the rain like this for so long.

I sighed in relief as we entered the small store, happy to finally be out of the rain for at least a little while. At this point, water was dripping off of me onto the floor. I looked around as Kaidoh walked to the front.

"Hey, old man Haritatsu" he called out. I could hear as the man walked in from another room.

"Ah, Kaidoh my boy. How are you?" the man asked. Kaidoh bowed his head slightly in respect.

"I'm good" he said. The man's eyes then fell on me.

"And who is this Kaidoh?" he asked curiously. Kaidoh turned to look at me, catching my gaze for a moment.

"Lila…she's a friend. She needs new strings for a tournament tomorrow" Kaidoh told him. The old man's eyes lit up.

"And what a pretty one she is" he said, making my face go red with a blush. I've never really had anyone call me pretty. Well…I have, but I'd rather not think about that one. "May I see your racket dear?" he asked kindly. I nodded my head as I walked over and stood beside Kaidoh, handing the man my racket. I was still blushing as I stood there.

The man started examining my racket, putting pressure on various strings, and pulling them a bit.

"My, you have quite an arm there don't you?" he said chuckling. "I can also see that you use it quite often too. You put a good deal of power into your game" he looked up at me as he said this. "I like that in a girl" he said, making me blush even more.

"Um…t-thank you sir" I said, bowing my head. Once again, my bangs fell in my face, covering my eyes.

"I'll make the strings a bit thicker for you, that should help you out. Might I ask you the reason for the abundance of ware in it so recently?" he asked. When he asked this, my body stiffened a bit. How could he tell so much of it was recent?

"Um…I…it's because of my brother…" I said quietly. Kaidoh watched me carefully as I said this. Old man Haritatsu merely nodded his head.

"Might I suggest using an alternative racket for such occasions?" he suggested.

"Yes…I would if I could…but I can't afford another one unless that one happens to brake" I told him.

"I see. Well, I suppose I should get started on this then. This might take a while, so feel free to sit down you two" he said, quickly getting to work at fixing my racket up for me.

I honestly don't know why Kaidoh decided to stay, but he did, sitting down on the floor beside me. It felt so good to finally sit down again. I pulled my phone out a moment later, flipping it open to find tons of missed calls and messages. I groaned at this, but scanned through them. I found that I had a few missed calls from Kanato. I sighed, going through options and listening to my voice mails. Kaidoh sat there quietly the entire time as I did this.

"_Hey, it's me, Kanato. Where the heck are you? I'm losing money because your but_"

"_Don't forget the big tournament Thursday. I'm counting on you Kunumo_"

"_It's me again. Look, I'm sorry to do this, but I have to drop you. I've already lost too much money because of you, so sorry Lila, but I can't do it anymore_"

Those were what I heard. I swear, I felt like I was going to start crying. I couldn't believe it, he actually dropped me. Apparently, the guy doesn't watch the news. Either that or Katchiro never answered my phone when I was in the hospital and told him I was in the hospital. Actually, it was probably both. I'm going to kill Katchiro when I get my hands on him.

"Idiot" I growled under my breath, slamming my phone shut, before tucking it into my pocket. Kaidoh gave me a strange look as I did this. "My brother" I said, letting him know what the problem was. He just nodded his head. I sighed as I leaned back, closing my eyes.

"Why'd you leave the hospital?" he asked all of a sudden.

"Huh?"

"Why'd you leave the hospital?" he asked again. I looked at him for a moment, before closing my eyes again.

"Because…my brother is a good for nothing idiot…and he pissed me off. Why do you think he came in with two black eyes?" I asked, not willing to see the look on his face.

"You actually hit him?" he asked. I nodded my head.

"Yeah…that was the first time in my life that I had ever hit him…not sure who it did more damage to though" I said quietly, looking down at my hand. It be honest, it was still sore. "I just about busted up my hand…" I whispered. "You know, I didn't expect you to be this talkative" I said. I saw him blush a bit when I said this. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone" he just gave a grunt in response. "Personally…I'm not much of a talker either. Besides, it's not like I have much of a life anyway." After that, I just stared down at the scar on my hand, tracing my finger over it. It actually wasn't that bad compared to a few others that I have though.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Get what?" I asked. He pointed down at my hand. "Oh, that? It's from my cat Kechi. He's a little Siamese cat. Last time that Katchiro brought his girlfriends dog over, Kechi nearly got eaten. Kechi accidentally caught a hold of my hand when I tried to grab him and get him away from Soto. So, yeah, that's how I got it" I told him. "I nearly killed Katchiro though. All he said was that he didn't even know why we even needed a cat, but he's my cat, so Katchiro can just go and jump off a cliff." For a moment, I could have sworn that I heard Kaidoh stifle a laugh. I was about to say something else when I heard my phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Where are you!?" I had to pull the phone away from my ear. I growled a bit as well.

"Katchiro, leave me alone" I said, getting rather annoyed with him.

"Lila, tell me where you are so I can come get you and take you home" he order.

"No. I'll come home in my own time, so leave me alone" I told him.

"Oh yeah, just so you know, I closed and LOCKED your window" I swear I could practically hear him grinning on the other end.

"Jerk. Oh yeah, and just so that YOU know, you can figure out a way to feed your own self for the next couple months" I informed him.

"WHAT!? Why!?" Once again I had to pull the phone away from my now ringing ears. I was really starting to get irritated with him now.

"Because KATCHIRO, thanks to YOU I no longer have my sponsor!" I hung up a second later, just throwing my phone down at my bag, and walking outside into the pouring rain.

Once I got outside, I let myself slide down against the building, holding my head. Before I knew it, I started crying.

Katchiro didn't realize that I really can't do anything without a sponsor. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that tomorrows tournament is open to anyone and everyone, I wouldn't even be able to do that one. I have to do this to continue paying for Mom's medicine. If something happens and she doesn't have it…she…she'll die…

"Damn it Katchiro!" I shouted, slamming my hand against the wall. When I got home…I was definitely going to punch Katchiro in the face, and hard too.

Back inside, my phone rang again. Kaidoh looked down at it, seeing Katchiro's name.

"Leave her alone" he hissed into the phone.

"Hey, who is this? Why do you have Lila's phone? Only I'm allowed to play with it" Katchiro said, whinning a bit at the end.

Kaidoh's POV

I don't know why I answered her phone when I saw his name, but I did.

"Leave her alone" I hissed into the phone.

"Hey, who is this? Why do you have Lila's phone? Only I'm allowed to play with it" he whinned. I highly doubt that she let him 'play' with her phone. I know that I sure as heck wouldn't.

"I said, leave her alone. Besides, what kind of brother makes their sister cry?" I hissed, before hanging up her phone. I made sure to turn it off for her.

From what I could tell, her brother was nothing but pure trouble for her. Especially, with some of the stuff that she was muttering to herself when she first left the restaurant. Even from where I was sitting, I could see her crying outside. I really didn't even know her that well, but I knew that she was a nice person. One thing that I noticed after a while, was that she always watched me play tennis at school. I've known for quite some time that she herself plays tennis, and from what I've seen at times, she's pretty good. She's the best player on the girls team. Actually, she's really the only 'real' player on her team because the other girls don't even try. I just think they practice so that they can try and 'impress' us. Lila's completely different though. She takes her tennis seriously, which is how it should be if you're going to play tennis. She seems a bit too serious though.

"Kaidoh my boy, why don't you bring her back inside?" Haritatsu said, catching my attention. "I wouldn't want the poor girl getting sick." I nodded my head, moving to stand up. I noticed that her book was open to a certain page.

_Tennis Tournament tomorrow. (Free for all)_

_Location: Park 5 blocks from school_

_Time: 3:00 p.m. (can't be late)_

_1__st__ place wins $500_

_2__nd__ place wins $250_

_3__rd__ place wins $125_

_1__st__ place will pay for Mom's medicine for 2 weeks if we don't buy food. Pantry is empty…medicine will have to be for only 1 week._

I think that I might have to go and check this out tomorrow.

My POV

I heard the door open beside me as I sat against the wall with my head in my arms.

"Hey" It was Kaidoh. He was crouched down beside me.

"What do you want?" I whispered.

"You out of the rain" he said, a faint hiss rolling off his tongue.

"What's the point…I'm already going to be sick tomorrow anyway…not to mention I wore myself out…" Surprisingly enough, he was able to hear what I said. He seemed to think for a moment, before speaking again.

"What about your mom? Doesn't she need her medicine?" At this, I looked up, my brows furrowed.

"How do you know about that?" I asked, wanting an answer from him. I never told anyone about that stuff.

"You left your book open" he hissed. I looked away, resting my chin on top of my arms. Tears started falling slowly without me even knowing it.

"I can only do so much Kaidoh…all my life is anymore, is school and these stupid street tournaments" I said. He looked at me with a spark of curiosity.

"Street tournaments?"

"That's how I earn money… I don't know if you've ever noticed or not…but I rarely eat much of anything" I told him. I turned my eyes to look at him. "Kaidoh…if I tell you something…promise not to tell anyone?" I asked. He nodded his head. "Well, I could be taken away if anyone found out…" He hissed faintly.

"I won't tell anyone" he said, reassuring me.

"The money that I bring in from tournaments…that's what pays for food…for my mom's medicine…it keeps a roof over our heads… If I didn't do this almost every day…we wouldn't have a home…and…and Mom…Mom would be dead" I cried, burying my head in my arms.

All that Kaidoh could do, was sit there in shock as he heard this. He hadn't expected to hear such a thing. In fact, he hadn't even expected me to tell him anything at all, much less this.

I didn't even move, until I felt something rest on my shoulders. I lifted my head up faint to find Kaidoh's jacket. I looked up at him tiredly with a questionable look in my eyes.

"Come on" he said, holding out his hand. I let out a quiet sigh as I grabbed his hand, letting him pull me up. I nearly fell over though, but quickly steadied myself against the building. I wouldn't be surprised if Kaidoh wasn't a bit on edge at the movement.

Once was were back inside, I sat back down on the floor, bringing my knees to my chest. I was so tired, I could barely stay awake anymore.

Kaidoh's POV

I stood against the wall, watching as she fell asleep. It was obvious that she was completely exhausted. I was actually surprised that she hadn't collapsed already in the condition that she was in. She should still be in the hospital right now, but she's not. She's doing all of this for her family…all by herself. It made me wonder where her dad was. How someone could just leave kids behind and a sick mother. Apparently, her mother must be really sick then if she has to do all of this. What I didn't understand was why her brother wasn't doing anything. I had seen him come to the school a few times the past month, picking up the money from the office that had been collected to help her out. With all the money that we had collected, there shouldn't have been any problems. We had collected plenty of money to pay for her bill at least 3 times over. Yet, here she was, already out of the hospital and at her wits end. Something just wasn't right about all of this.

"Hey, Mr. Haritatsu, you almost done?" I asked, still looking over at Lila's as she slept.

"Almost" he said, letting out a yawn. He then looked over at Lila. "She's asleep, ain't she?" he asked. I nodded my head in response.

"Yeah, she is" I told him, pushing off the wall and walking over to her.

"Poor thing, I can tell that she's been through a lot lately" he said. I looked down at her as she sat there. My jacket still hung around her, keeping her warm. She looked a bit red in the face though as I got down closer, putting her stuff away. I touched her forehead. She was hot, there was no doubt about it.

"Hey, can I use your phone real quick?" I asked the man.

"Sure, go right ahead my boy" he said, nodding his head as he finished up working on her racket.

When I got to the phone, I dialed in a number, holding the phone to my ear. It rang a few times, before someone finally picked it up and answered.

"Hello?" came a young man's voice.

"Hey Fuji" I greeted.

"Kaidoh? Well, this is a surprise" Fuji admitted. I just hissed.

"I have a favor to ask" I said.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Do you think you could get your sister to drive over to old man Haritatsu's place?" I asked, hoping that he'd help.

"Yeah, sure. In fact, I'll come with her" he said.

"Thanks"

"No problem. I'll see you in a few minutes then" he said, hanging up the phone. Well, at least that was one less thing to worry about.

"There we go, finished" Mr. Haritatsu announced, holding up Lila's tennis racket.

"Thank you Sir" I said, bowing my head in thanks.

"Not a problem. In fact, this one is free. She doesn't need to worry about anything else today" he said. He really was a nice man. I knew that Lila would probably appreciate it. Now, the question was, what to do next. I knew that if she saw her brother again, she'd likely punch him in the face again. I actually wondered if she'd end up going to school tomorrow.

After I got back over to her, I placed her tennis racket back into her bag, zipping it up.

"It's nice of you to help her out Kaidoh. If I'm not mistaken, she's the one that saved that little boy last month, isn't she?" Haritatsu asked. I turned to looked at him.

"Yeah, she is. I was there when it happened too. She nearly got herself killed doing it too" I told him, turning my eyes to look outside for a moment. Fuji still wasn't here yet.

"If I remember correctly, I had a boy come in here the other month. He mentioned her to me. He was a bit frustrated that she'd beaten him in tennis" he explained. I nearly laughed at this. "Well, in my opinion, she's pretty cute. I'm sure that you'll take good care of her" he said, making me blush a bit. I had to turn my head away from the embarrassment. He acts like she's going to be my girlfriend or something. I don't even know her that well.

The next thing I knew, the front door opened, and a boy with a smile plastered on his face walked in.

"Hey Kaidoh" he greeted. "Mr. Haritatsu" he said, bowing his head. He looked down beside me, a curious look on his face as he saw my jacket around Lila. "Who's this Kaidoh?" Fuji inquired as he came a bit closer. I stared at her for a moment.

"She's the reason that I called you. I highly doubt that she can make it home in her condition. She's already starting to get a fever" I told him, gesturing down at Lila as she sat there with her head on her knees.

"Well, that's not good at all. Do you even know where she lives though?" I had to think for a moment when he asked this. I then thought of her book. She probably had her address written down in it.

I unzipped her bag, pulling out her book, and opened it. Just as I thought, her address was on the back of the cover.

"I do now" I said, handing him the small book. He seemed surprised as he looked at it.

"Hey, if I'm not mistaken, this isn't very far from where you live Kaidoh"

"What?" I grabbed the book back from him, looking at the address. He was right, it wasn't very far from where I lived. In fact, I think that I know where the street is at that she lives on.

"We should probably get going Kaidoh. The sooner we get her home, the better" Fuji told me.

"Yeah, I think you're right" I then turned to Lila, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Lila" I called her name, but she didn't answer, so I tried again. "Lila" I called a bit louder, but she still didn't respond. I shook her a bit, receiving a small groan.

"Mmm…"

My POV

I slowly woke up, feeling someone shake me a bit, but I didn't know who it was.

"Lila, wake up" Kaidoh? It was Kaidoh's voice that I heard.

"Kaidoh?" my voice wasn't very loud at all, but I think he heard me. Lord, I felt like crap right now. I'm not even sure that I can move. In fact, I can't feel my legs.

"We're going to get you home" he told me, his hand sliding from my shoulder for a moment. "Fuji, grab her stuff for me" he said to someone else.

"Okay" came the gentle voice of a young man. When I opened my eyes, I saw the guy reach down and grab my stuff, he had a smile on his face.

"Hey there" he said, smiling happily at me. I tilted my head to the side a bit, causing him to laugh. "How cute" Hearing him say this made me blush, merely adding to the redness of my face. I was actually grateful when Kaidoh finally spoke up.

"Do you think you can walk?" he asked, looking down at me a bit. I closed my eyes for a moment, before shaking my head.

"I…I can't feel my legs right now" I admitted. I received a strange look from both of them when I said this.

"I'll be right back in Kaidoh" Fuji said, before walking outside. He came back in a couple minutes later. He knelt down in front of me, placing a hand to my forehead. I groaned a bit. "She's pretty hot Kaidoh" he said. Yeah…hot and tired. He placed a hand on my back as he looked at Kaidoh, giving him a nod. It was like a silent agreement as the two of them carefully started to help me up. I couldn't even stand at all. It took a minute or so, but they finally got me to the door. They were on either side of me, sporting an arm over their shoulders. It felt so go once they had me in the car. I was actually able to lay down in the back seat, although, my head was on Kaidoh's lap. I could have sworn he was blushing, but I couldn't be sure due to the lighting.

"Thank you…" I whispered, before closing my eyes. I couldn't wait to bed back in my bed again, and eventually fell asleep where I was. Who knew that Kaidoh could be so comfortable?

After a while, Fuji finally spoke up.

"Hey Kaidoh?"

"Huh?"

"Why exactly…are you helping her?" Fuji asked in a curious tone.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not like I'm saying that you can't be a gentleman, but she's a girl" Fuji said.

"Yeah? What's your point?" Kaidoh was getting a bit irritated with Fuji.

"Well, I was just curious is all" he admitted as he turned back to watch the scenery.

After about 15 minutes later, the car came to a stop outside of a small two story house. All of the lights were out, suggesting that everyone was asleep.

"Lila" Kaidoh called carefully, shaking me a bit.

"Mmm…" I groaned a bit as I opened my eyes. I was kind of half asleep at the moment.

"We're here" he said, helping me sit up a bit. Fuji came around to the other side of the car and opened the down, looking down at me.

"Ready to go?" he asked. I looked at the house, seeing all the lights off and nodded.

"Yeah…I'm ready" I said tiredly as I took hold of his out stretched hand, letting him pull me up. I ended up falling against him as my legs gave out, but he caught me and picked me up, making me let out a startled squeal.

Kaidoh followed behind us with my stuff in his arms as we walked to the front door. I looked over at Kaidoh.

"My key is in that zipper right there Kaidoh" I said, pointing it out to him. He nodded his head as he switched the stuff in his arms, pulling my key out from my bag.

"Got it" he announced, walking forward and placing it in the door. It soon opened, allowing us entrance into the house.

"Now, where is your room at Miss Lila?" Fuji asked as he looked around the darkened house. I yawned, before point at the stairs.

"Second door on the right" I whispered, slowly falling back asleep again. The last thing that I remember hearing were the words 'Goodnight Lila' as the fever took over once more.

**I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. I also REALLY hope that everyone reviews. I'd really like to see what you think about this story since this is my first attempt at writing a Prince of Tennis story. Please REVIEW? Please and thank you and pleasant reading everyone!!!**


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